


Of Aging and Spontaneity

by sacredORDINARYdays



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Anakin Skywalker Gets Protection Detail, Gen, Human Disaster Anakin Skywalker, Protective clones, The clones have a mild breakdown, over their Jedi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-17 18:07:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29721141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sacredORDINARYdays/pseuds/sacredORDINARYdays
Summary: It struck Rex suddenly, one day, that for all that he knew of General Skywalker, like his hatred of sand, his not-so-secret relationship with Senator Amidala (really, who did they think they were fooling?), and his flair for the dramatics, the General’s age was a complete mystery.OR:Rex and the 501st find out their General is the nice young age of twenty, and have a mild breakdown. Then, they go full parent mode.
Relationships: 501st Legion & Anakin Skywalker, CC-2224 | Cody & Obi-Wan Kenobi, CC-6454 | Ponds & Mace Windu, CT-6116 | Kix & Anakin Skywalker, CT-7567 | Rex & Anakin Skywalker, Clone Troopers & Jedi Character(s), Plo Koon & CC-3636 | Wolffe
Comments: 50
Kudos: 251
Collections: Guerra_das_Estrelas





	Of Aging and Spontaneity

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [How old is General Kenobi](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29531394) by [Jigoku_no_hono](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jigoku_no_hono/pseuds/Jigoku_no_hono). 



It struck Rex suddenly, one day, that for all that he knew of General Skywalker, like his hatred of sand, his not-so-secret relationship with Senator Amidala (really, who did they think they were fooling?), and his flair for the dramatics, the General’s age was a complete mystery. 

General Kenobi had been awfully young when he’d taken General Skywalker as his padawan, so he shouldn't be  _ that _ young, right? 

I mean,  _ at least _ , late twenties? 

He couldn’t be more than  _ very _ early thirties, though, so in terms of developmental stages, that would make his General... _ younger _ than Rex. That was quite disconcerting. 

Pondering this strange line of thought, Rex almost didn’t notice when he bumped into Kix. 

“Rex? You okay? Do I need to order you to get some bed rest again?”

Rolling his eyes, Rex waved off the medic’s piercing gaze. 

“I’m  _ fine. _ Just wondering…”

Kix raised an eyebrow, and gestured his hands as if to say  _ well go on then, don’t waste my time. _

“I was just wondering, how old  _ is _ the General?”

Kix seemed taken aback by this, before saying slowly,

“You know… I don’t actually think that’s in his medical record.”

“Huh,” that was interesting. What about his General’s age was so sensitive? Though it occurred to Rex that General Skywalker had only recently been knighted, that didn’t mean anything, right?  _ Right?  _

_ Kriff. Knowing our General, he’s probably twenty-five or something ridiculous like that.  _

Apparently, Kix was having similar thoughts, if his suddenly pale face was anything to go by. 

Then, before he could process what had happened, Rex was being dragged off by one very worked up, very worried, medic. 

“What--! Kix!  _ What are you doing?!” _

“ _ We _ are going to find our General.  _ Now. _ And get his  _ bloody age.” _

Oh. 

Well. In that case…

“Well then what are you doing marching so  _ slow?! _ Come  _ on!” _

Setting off into a dead sprint, Rex pulled Kix after him, ignoring the startled yelps of his brother. 

Finally catching their General in the cafeteria, Rex skidded to a halt, Kix catching his breath behind him. 

“Rex? What’s going on?” 

Rex analyzed his General’s face. Surely,  _ surely, _ the Jedi wouldn’t let a  _ child _ into war would they?

“Well sir, I was just thinking, we don’t really know your age, sir. Do you think you could tell us?” scrambling for a way to make this less awkward, Rex gestured vaguely in Kix’s direction, “medical reasons.”

“Oh, uh… sure?” scrunching his brows together, General Skywalker seemed to think about it for a moment, before responding far too cheerily, “Oh! I just turned twenty! That was a  _ fun _ day… Obi-Wan got  _ so _ airsick…”

Rex tried to process the second half of the statement, before realizing  _ what _ his General had said. 

Did he say that he  _ just turned twenty?! _

Looking at the horrified faces of Torrent Company around the cafeteria table, he  _ hadn’t _ heard wrong. 

_ Oh My Gosh. _

_ I’ve been serving a twenty-year-old General. _

_ A nineteen year old was sent to WAR! _

Rex was feeling slightly nauseous.

“Did--did you just say  _ twenty, _ sir?” Kix asked, lips thin, and hands gripping his blaster dangerously. 

“Yes? Is-is there an issue?”  _ Kriff.  _ His General looked genuinely confused. 

“No issue,” Kix gritted out, “But now that I know that you’re  _ hecking twenty _ , you have  _ no _ authority to ignore my orders in regards to your health anymore. Am. I. Clear.”

Anakin (a  _ General!  _ At  _ twenty!) _ stared, eyes wide at the infuriated medic, before nodding meekly. 

Good, Rex thought, at least he knows when to pick his battles. 

Though, if the last campaign was anything to go by…

Rex suddenly felt a whole lot sicker than he was before. The image of his General, with a dislocated shoulder and injured ankle, waving help away, saying that he was  _ fine _ replayed over and over in his mind. 

_ He was twenty! _

And considering this was only a year into the war, Rex would wager that it would probably get a  _ lot _ worse. 

Oh kark. He was going to die from stress one day, and his General was going to be the cause of it.

Anakin, thoroughly perplexed, looked at the clones quizzically. 

Rex could practically hear the indignant  _ I’m already twenty!  _ that would no doubt come out of his General’s mouth. 

“Y-you’re only  _ twenty!” _ a clone yelped from beside the General, “ _ holy Bantha toenails!” _

“Yeah? So? I mean, I  _ am _ quite young for a General, and Ahsoka is only fourteen, but  _ come on, _ there are seventeen-year-olds fighting as independent knights on the front lines! So really, it’s not  _ that _ bad.”

Rex swayed a little, and took a seat in a nearby chair. 

He and his General had very different opinions of  _ not bad. _ Kix was already cursing under his breath, and snapping at Fives to create a clone escort for their General, because it was bad enough before, but now they knew that the General was  _ twenty, and by the Force, he wasn’t going to survive to thirty living the way he does.  _

Rex, satisfied that his brothers could be entrusted with the protection of their General, sped off again, heading towards his bunk, and opening a classified holopad, created for clone eyes  _ only _ . 

It was labeled:  _ The Clone Handbook for Proper Jedi Care.  _

Sending a notification to all his commanding brothers, he typed a short message telling them that he had added a clause to the Guide.

_ Clause 467.1: In case you have not already done so, please look to your commanding Jedi, and ask for their age. It has come to this clone’s attention that they are not particularly forthcoming with it, and truly, it can put many things into perspective. Why they might be so spontaneous, for example. Or impulsive. Or stress-inducing. So be sure to clarify how old your Jedi is, and take necessary precautions in response to said age.  _

His comlink beeped.

_ Wolffe: What on earth, Rex? _

_ Ponds: Why would we need to ask how old they are? _

_ Cody: Hold on, let me check. _

_ Cody: Holy Kriff General Kenobi’s THIRTY-FIVE! _

_ Wolffe: What. _

_ Wolffe: Plo Koon is Forty-Three. That’s not...bad. Sort of expected that. _

_ Ponds: General Windu is Fifty.  _

_ Bly: Aayla’s 27. That’s kind of terrifying. _

_ Ponds: I really don’t see why you’re panicking, Rex. I mean, General Kenobi’s pretty young, and General Secura’s really young, but isn’t that more of Cody and Bly’s problem? _

_ Cody: Wait. If Kenobi’s thirty-five, how old is Skywalker? _

_ Wolffe: Oh heck. _

_ Ponds: Kark. _

_ Rex: Oh no big deal, you know? _

_ Rex: Just twenty years old. _

_ Rex: Went into war at nineteen. _

_ Rex: No reason to panic at all.  _

_ Cody: HOLY _

_ Wolffe: OH MY GOSH _

_ Ponds: OH WOW _

_ Bly: Wow. Uh.  _

_ Gree: Barriss is nineteen. NINETEEN. I have the sudden urge to kill some Separatists. Who’s in? _

Rex would admit, the sentiment was very tempting. He ignored his comm as dozens of messages popped up, mostly from captains or commanders who had padawans in their legion, or who had a General who was  _ seriously _ underage. 

Glancing at his holopad, he noticed that Fives had just sent out a sign-up chart for the General’s protection detail. Five clones at all times (besides when on the ship). Good. 

Smiling grimly, Rex signed up for a shift every single day as names poured in. Distantly he heard General Skywalker cry out in protest, yelling something about how  _ he could take care of himself!,  _ before being told off by Kix that  _ he didn’t have to _ . 

Anakin was silent after that, and now a real smile blossomed on the captain’s face.

Skywalker was the 501st’s, and  _ they protected what was theirs. _

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea if these kind of things get redundant, but I love protective 501st ideas.


End file.
